1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water bicycle for recreational use in a pool, at the beach, or at other water locales.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Outdoor and water-related activities are becoming increasingly popular. For example, many people now enjoy spending recreation time by a swimming pool, by the beach, or even at creeks and streams. To enhance enjoyment during such recreation time, a wide variety of water recreation items have been provided. Many of these water recreation items provide the users with water-related activities. For example, many inflatable devices have been provided to assist flotation, such as floating chairs and recliners. Other examples include floating games (such as floating basketball nets), mattresses, floats, lounge islands, boats and others, which provide different types of water-related activities.
One other type of water recreation item is a paddle boat. These paddle boats are very popular because they allow the user to traverse and move about the water without getting wet, and can be used to promote other fun activities such as races between two or more such paddle boats. Existing paddle boats are designed to seat one or two individuals, and are provided with a large flywheel at the rear of the boat that is rotated to cause to the paddle boat to move through the water. Unfortunately, these paddle boats are large and bulky because the flywheel can be quite large. The large size of these flywheels also requires the user to exert much force to paddle the boat. In addition, many of the existing paddle boats do not provide any steering capability.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved water bicycle that allows a user to conveniently traverse and move about the water, and which overcomes the drawbacks mentioned above.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a water bicycle that can be used by a user to conveniently move about the surface of the water.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a water bicycle that is simple in construction and operation, and which does not occupy much space.
The objectives of the present invention are accomplished by providing a water bicycle having a body and a drive system connected to the body. The body is made from a material that allows the body to float on water. The drive system includes a propeller that is positioned below the body, a shaft having a first end coupled to the propeller, a drive mechanism coupled to the second end of the shaft, and a control coupled to the drive mechanism. The water bicycle of the present invention can also include a steering system operatively connected to the body, the steering system having a rudder, a handle, and a link assembly operatively coupling the handle and the rudder.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the link assembly includes a steering shaft having one end connected to the handle, a first flywheel coupled to another end of the steering shaft, a second flywheel coupled to the rudder, and a pair of crossing rods each having opposing ends connected to the first and second flywheels.